that tends to be the take on most “k8s is too complex” articles, at least the ones i’ve seen.
yes, it’s complex, but it’s simpler than running true high availability setups without something like it to standardize the processes and components needed. what i want to see is a before and after postmortem on teams that dropped it and compare their numbers like outages to get at the whole truth of their experience.
Complexity is a puzzle and attracts a certain kind of easy bored dev, who also has that rockstar flair, selling it to management - then quitting (cause bored) leaving a group of wizard-prophet-whorshippers to pray to the k8 goddess at the monolith circle at night. And you can not admit as management, that you went all in on a guru and a cult.
Then they hire a different cult leader, one that can clean up the mess and simplify it for the cult that was left behind. The old cult will question their every motive, hinder them with questions about how they could ever make it simpler. Eventually, once the last old architecture is turned off; they will see the errors of their ways. This new rock star heads off to the next complicated project.
A new leader arrives and says, “we could optimize it by…”